Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Castle
Label: Van Records
Release: 2011
Runtime: 44:47
Rating: 4.5/5
I can’t think of many doom metal bands with a woman up front on lead vocals. Somewhere deep in my memory I’ve got the Portuguese band Ava Inferni and the American group Thorr’s Hammer, but I’d struggle to squeeze out much more than that. Doom metal has always been ruled by male vocals, from Ozzy Osbourne onward. Brand-new San Francisco trio Castle won’t put an end to that dominance, but their vocalist Elisabeth Blackwell still proves that doom coming out of a woman’s throat can be at least as good as from a man’s, if not better.
Elisabeth, guitarist Mat Davis and drummer Al McCartney have captured the essence of Castle on their debut In Witch Order, which is first and foremost a tribute to the forefathers of doom, with no needless clutter and none of the clichés that are way too common in today’s doom and sludge. Castle have a strong whiff of classic heavy metal and the epic doom metal of the seventies and eighties. In Witch Order doesn’t do complicated: you won’t find any psychedelic, stoned jams here, just eleven direct heavy doom wreckers, averaging four minutes each. Castle build their foundation on simple but effective, catchy, raw and dirty riffs. You can hear a strong Iommi influence in them, but Davis only uses his idol as a template, and his riffs don’t sound like Iommi’s seventies leftovers. Davis doesn’t build some monumental wall of sound, but the riffs are well thought out and don’t repeat themselves, and the range of guitar lines is varied even within individual tracks. Of course, guitars alone don’t make a proper sound, and Elisabeth and McCartney do a great job on the thunderous rhythms and low end. Blackwell is far from the mastery of someone like Geezer Butler, but she strolls across her four strings with confidence and dynamics, and she locks in great with the lively drumming. So she’s far from just being there for decoration, which quite a few bands love to do these days! On top of that, Elisabeth is also remarkably good and convincing on the vocal front, able to be femininely seductive (Descent of Man), feministically aggressive (Fire in the Sky) and sensually mysterious (Total Betrayal). Her fantastic female vocals also get an equally good counterpart in Davis’s aggressive, almost-growl vocals, which join Elisabeth occasionally but in just the right places. The dirty, raw production, reminiscent of nineties hardcore records, only adds more charm to the trio’s incredible chemistry.
In Witch Order is an excellent release that earns Castle a spot on the doom map. The trio has a ton of great ideas and knows how to carry them out with just the right amount of energy. Castle don’t pretend to be anything more than they are: they make it perfectly clear where they come from, heavy doom metal of the eighties, and they spare no effort getting there. In Witch Order is doom with balls, even if there’s (also) a woman behind it!
Lineup
Al McCartney – drums
Mat Davis – guitar
Elizabeth Blackwell – vocals, bass
Production
Mat Davis
Track list
1. Descent of Man
2. Fire in the Sky
3. Slaves of the Pharao
4. Knife in the Temple
5. Total Betrayal
6. Spellbinder
7. Lost Queen
8. Shaman Wars
9. Sleeping Giant
10. Butcher of Los Angeles
11. Devils Castle
